5 footballers who haven’t lived up to the hype this season

Kyle Walker

Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy found a great deal when Manchester City decided to buy the English full back Kyle Walker for €51 million a couple of years ago. Totenham obviously got the better end of the deal in former Burnley right back Kieran Trippier with him putting up an amazing display at the World Cup and performing slightly better than Walker this season. Gareth Southgate England’s manager was compelled to play Trippier due to his excellence at the right back position while Walker was forced to play as a centre back at the World Cup. The former Spurs full back have been associated to only 2 league goals this season despite starting regularly which in comparison to Ukranian starlet OleksandrZinchenko seems pathetic. OleksandrZinchenko has made 3 assists this season despite playing almost 1536 minutes lesser than Walker. Popular belief is that Walker is holding on to his position only because of Danilo’s inability to offer proper competition for the right back spot. Walker future at the club might be at stake if City manage to grab Aaron Wan Bissaka from Crystal Palace.

David Luiz

Chelsea fans were all over former manager Antonio Conte’s decision to freeze out David Luiz from the first team when under new manager Maurizio Sarri Chelsea went for an unbeaten run at the beginning of the season. David Luiz played a key role in Sarri’s tactics resulting in the win streak and questions were raised as to why he was not allowed more time on field. But inconsistency is the real problem with David Luiz whose brilliant form did not last for long when Chelsea suffered heavy defeats at the hands of Manchester City and then later Bournemouth. David Luiz’s faltering form and inconsistent performances played a key role in these defeats. Luiz kept a clean sheet again Dynamo Kiev in their Europa League campaign only to concede 2 against Everton in the Premier League. Sarri has himself admitted that the Chelsea squad is really inconsistent with their on field performances and David Luiz should be the first to be blamed for that.

Dele Ali

He was the most valued midfielder in the last season and was the talk of the league in Europe in November. His valuation was done by CIES Football Observatory and was found to be 144.36 million pounds which was at that time a lot more than Paul Pogba’s 100 million pounds. Dele Ali’s performances caught the eye of European football giants Barcelona and Real Madrid and a move seemed imminent but his form did not last. His stats are all over the place this season. He has been out with injuries quite a few times this season and his passing accuracy is nowhere near what it was in the past. He has drawn the frustration of his teammates by holding on to the ball for long periods of time and poor passing. He has completed a meagre 79.2 percent of his deliveries and has lost the ball once at least in every Premier League game.

Willian Borges

Chelsea’s last season saw three of its players get hyped massively and the afro haired Brazilian was one of them alongside Marcos Alonso and Eden Hazard. He had a tremendous last season and his exploits caught the eye of football giants Barcelona. The Catalan club was ready to sign him on under any circumstances and were willing to offer £50 million plus the services of Malcom in exchange. This would be considered a high offer for a 30 year old footballer but Chelsea stood their ground and refused to sell Willian. But since Sarri took over Willian has been underperforming and has yet to cement is place in the first team. Sarri has had to choose between Pedro and Willian to pair with Hazard and his inconsistent performances have not yet convinced Sarri of his position. And with the emerging Callum Hudson-Odoi putting in great performances Willian is all set to lose his position to Odoi. Even if he manages to secure a move to Barcelona which seems highly unlikely now he would just be a benchwarmer at the club no different than what Malcom is right now.

Kieran Trippier

Trippier had a great run at the World Cup where he was so good at the right back position that Gareth Southgate had to play him there moving Walker to a centre back position. But since the end of the tournament Trippier has done nothing of note. The 28 year old Englishman was compared to the great David Beckham for his pinpoint crosses and lethal free kicks. He was linked with a move to Real Madrid at one point. But since then he has not been able to perform anywhere close to the expectations from him. He has been involved in one single goal since November last year. Defensively also he has faltered time and again which has cost the Spurs in their bid to win the Premier League. He also made an own goal against Chelsea this season.